Underwater weapon

ABSTRACT

There is described a weapon using a pressurized gas for projecting a needle-like tip through the skin of a creature and then feeding said gas under pressure through the tip into the creature to kill or disable it.

United States Patent 1 Fima [ UNDERWATER WEAPON [76] Inventor: Raoul Fima, 655 W. Diversey,

Addison, 111. 60101 [22] Filed: May 17, 1974 [21] Appl No.: 471,010

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 245,832, April 20,

1972, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 43/6 [51] Int. Cl Afllk 81/04 [58] Field of Search 43/6, 19; 124/11 R, 11 A [111 3,888,033 June 10, 1975 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,970,399 2/1961 Frohlich et a1. 43/6 3,354,572 I 1/1967 Dean 43/6 Primary ExaminerWarner H. Camp Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edmond T. Patnaude [57] ABSTRACT There is described a weapon using a pressurized gas for projecting a needle-like tip through the skin of a creature and then feeding said gas under pressure through the tip into the creature to kill or disable it.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures UNDERWATER WEAPON This application is a continuation-in-part of my now abandoned copending application Ser. 245.832 filed Apr. 20, I972.

The present invention relates in general to fluid operated weapons for injecting fluid into a victim to immobilize or kill it. and it relates more particularly to a new and improved weapon of the aforementioned type for underwater use for divers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are many places where underwater creatures such as sharks pose a serious threat to swimmers but particularly to scuba divers. Various types of portable weapons have been devised for underwater use by divers. such weapons including spring loaded dart or spear guns. guns utilizing an explosive charge to fire a projectile into the victim, and guns which inject CO gas into the victim. Many of these prior art devices in themselves present a danger to the diver and require substantial skill if they are to be effective in an emergency. Moreover. the type of gun utilizing the CO gas cannot be used at depths of about 80 feet or more since the ambient pressure of the water at those depths renders the device substantially inoperative. Another disadvan tage of all these prior art type guns is that they must be reloaded after each use whereby they are ineffective against more than one attacking creature and. more particularly, the diver must be successful on his first shot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly. in accordance with the teachings of the present invention there is provided a weapon which is powered by the compressed air from a conventional air tank carried by the diver for breathing purposes. The weapon is easily operated to inject pressurized air from the tank into the body of the victim. The amount of air required to operate the weapon and to kill a creature is very small and the weapon is automatically recocked each time the trigger is released whereby the weapon may be used a great many times in rapid sequence greatly enhancing the safety of the diver. The weapon of the present invention thus includes a generally tubular. needle-like tip assembly which upon actuation ofa trigger is projected with substantial force and velocity from the end of the barrel into the flesh of the victim and through which the pressurized air is thereaftr injected under the flesh to create an embolism and kill the victim. As described in detail hereinafter, the particular construction of this weapon enables it to be light in weight. substantially foolproof in operation, and reusable without reloading or the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A better understanding of the present invention may be had from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein;

FIG. I is a side elevational view, partly broken away and partly in section, of an underwater weapon embodying the present invention and showing the tip in a cocked. retracted position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the forward part of the weapon showing the tip assembly in a projected position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and,

2 FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, an underwater weapon l0 embodying several features of the present invention comprises as its principle parts a housing 12 having a recess or compartment therein in which is mounted a valve 14 and a trigger 16 which operates the valve 14 to couple pressurized gas from an inlet connector 18 at the rear of the housing to a barrel 20 extending from the front of the housing I2. Pressurized gas is thus fed through the bore of the barrel 20 to the forward end of the weapon to forcibly project a pointed tip assembly 22 a short, predetermined distance of several inches. With the inlet 18 connected via a pressure tube 24 to a conventional scuba air tank, the pressure from the tank provides the substantial force required to penetrate the flesh of the victim as compared to some prior art devices where the user is required to provide this penetrating force. a particularly difficult feat for performance under water. As long as the trigger I6 is held in the actuated position the tip remains in the projected position and air feeds into the victim whereupon the victim becomes buoyant and will float to the surface without any substantial release of blood which would attract other creatures. Moreover. since the victim is floated to the surface it quickly moves away from the diver so as not to attract other creatures to the location of the diver. When the trigger I6 is released. the tip assembly 22 is retracted into the forward end of the weapon by a spring 26 whereby the sharp end ofthe tip is shrouded within the forward end of the barrel. The weapon is thus recocked and again ready for use when the trigger is released to close the valve 14 and the weapon may be successively used until the air supply becomes exhaustedv For convenience. a pressure range gauge 28 is mounted at the upper rear end of the housing 12 in a rearwardly facing direction to indicate to the diver the pressure in the tank connected to the inlet 18 whereby the diver can determine by inspection of the gauge 28 if there is sufficient pressure in the tank to fire the weapon 10. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art of scuba diving that the gauge 28 can be used to replace the pressure gauge commonly carried by divers to indicate the air supply remaining in the tank for breathing purposes.

Considered in greater detail. the housing 12 includes a hand grip portion 30 at the bottom. above which is fixedly mounted the inlet connector 18 from which the tube extends from the rear of the weapon so as not to interfere with the use thereof. A terminal block 3l is mounted within the housing and includes a passageway 32 connecting the passageway in the connector [8 to the inlet port 33 of the valve I4. The passageway 32 is also connected to the pressure inlet port 34 of the gauge 28 wherefore the gauge 28 being upstream of the valve 14 always reads tank pressure. The valve I4 may be of any suitable design which connects the inlet 33 to the outlet 35 when opened by the trigger l6 and which connects the outlet 35 to a relief outlet port 36 when the trigger is released. While the trigger is in the actuated or pulled condition the relief outlet port 36 is disconnected from the outlet port 35. The outlet port 36 is at all times disconnected from the inlet 33.

The barrel 20 may include one or more extension sections 39 having scalable male and female connections at the opposite ends for threaded connection to the main barrel section 40, which is permanently attached to the housing 12, and to forward barrel section 41 which houses the tip assembly 22 and the associated operating mechanism. It will be apparent that the ex tension piece 39 may be omitted and the barrel section 41 connected directly to the fixed barrel section 40.

The barrel sections 39 and 40 are each provided with a narrow longitudinal bore which feeds the compressed air from the valve outlet to the forward end of the respective section and thus to the rear end of the forward barrel section 41 whenever the valve 14 is held in an open position by actuation of the trigger 16. When the trigger is released and the valve 14 returns to a normally closed position. the bores through the barrel sec tions 39 and are connected to the ambient through the valve outlet 36. The entire recess o compartment in the housing 12 is not sealed from the ambient whereby it will be filled with water when the weapon is submerged, lf desired, a check valve 42 may be mounted over the outlet port 36 to prevent water from entering the valve 14 and the barrel sections 39 and 40. it should be understood. however, that the weapon operates satisfactorily even though the passageway through the barrel contains water when the trigger 16 is actuated because the small amount of water in the barrel is quickly injected into the victim and the air then follows immediately thereafter.

The forward barrel section 41 comprises a tubular housing having an internally threaded rear end 44 which threadedly receives the forward end of either of the barrel sections 39 or 40. Suitable resilient O-ring seals 45 seal the bore in the barrel from the ambient. A sleeve 46 is threadedly received in the forward end of the barrel section 41 and has a cylindrical bore 47 therethrough for slidably receiving the tubular body portion 48 of the tip assembly 22.

A piston 50 of circular cross section is slidable in the cylindrical bore 51 of the barrel section 41 and in cludes an annular peripheral groove in which a wiper ring 52 is mounted to seal the piston to the walls of the associated cylinder while permitting reciprocation of the piston therein. The rear end of the tip portion 48 is threaded over a forwardly extending tubular section 53 of reduced diameter on the piston and an axial passageway 54 through the piston section 53 opens at the front end into the axial bore 49 in the tip portion 48. The rear end of the passageway 54 communicates with a transverse hole 55 extending through the piston 50 forwardly of the wiper ring 52. it will be observed by inspection of FIGS. 1 and 2 that the portion of the piston in which the hole 55 is drilled is of substantially lesser diameter than the diameter of the cylindrical wall portion 51 of the barrel section 41 thereby to provide an annular passageway surrounding the forward part of the piston.

A pointed tip 56 is threaded onto the front end of the tip portion 48 and is provided with an axial passageway 57 connected between the passageway 49 and a transverse passageway 58 opening at the sides ofthe tip. The spring 26, which may be a coil spring. is connected bwtween the rear end of the piston 50 and a washer 60 fixedly mounted near the rear end of the barrel section 41 to bias the tip assembly into the retracted position shown in FIG. 1 with the point of the tip positioned a substantial distance of about one-half inch or more in the barrel section 41.

When the trigger 16 is actuated to open the valve 14, air pressure from the tank is supplied to the rear face of the piston 50 to drive the piston forward at a high rate of speed under substantial force. For example, initial tank pressure is generally within the range of 2,400 to 3,000 psi and the piston 50 has an effective facial area of one-half inch diameter. As best shown in FIG. 3, the tip part 48 is generally square in cross-section to provide longitudinal passageways along the bore 47 to permit the relatively free flow of water into and out of the barrel as the piston moves back and forth therein. When the piston reaches its forward most position against the rear end of the sleeve 46, some of the air acting on the rear end of the piston is bypassed around the piston through passageways in a bypass sleeve 62 fitted in a complimentary annular recess in the cylinder wall. A resilient Oring 63 compressed between the front face of the piston and the rear end of the sleeve 46 prevents leakage of air to the ambient around the tip part 48. The bypassed air passes through the passageways 55, 54, 49, 57 and 58 into the victim, or if the tip is not disposed within a creature the air is simply exhausted into the water.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2 and 4, it may be seen that the bypass sleeve 62 is provided with four longitudinally extending recesses 70, 71, 72 and 73 provided by intermediate flat surfaces milled on the outer surface of the sleeve to provide for longitudinally extending passageways between the sleeve and the adjacent annular wall portion of the barrel section 41. A plurality of front circular holes 75 and rear circular holes 76 are drilled through the sleeve wall at the location of the recesses. The spacing between the holes 75 and 76 in each set is such that when the piston is positioned in its forward most position against the sleeve 46 the holes 75 are forward of the body portion of the piston in approximately the plane of the transverse passageway 55 therein and the holes 76 are rearward of the piston whereby air flows around the piston, through the passageway 55 in the piston and through the tip assembly 22 to the victim. The holes 75 and 76 are sized such that the pressure drop through the bypass passageways is sufficiently great that the pressure on the rear side of the piston maintains the tip assembly in the projected position. it will be understood that the spring 26 need not be particularly strong since its purpose is merely to withdraw the tip assembly into the barrel section 41, and with the valve 14 closed, the pressures on the two sides of the piston are approximately equal. Moreover, the small holes 75 and 76 which may, for example, have a diameter of H32 inch do not damage the wiper ring 52 as it moves thereacross when the weapon is actuated.

Should the diver wish to use the weapon 10 in salvage work such, for example. to fill an inverted bag with air, the tip is simply held below the bag and the trigger actuated to exhaust air into the bag. Ordinarily, the diver fills such a bag by removing his regulator from his mouth and placing it below the bag wihile the regulator free flows. This, however, is particularly undesirable where the water is polluted since some of the water is usually swallowed by the diver when he returns the regulator to his mouth. For use in salvage work. the tip piece 56 can be removed and replaced with a tool such as a chisel.

The present invention thus provides a weapon which is particularly adapted for use by scuba divers but which may be used by other swimmers carrying a small pony air tank. The weapon is small. compact and light in weight whereby it can be carried, for example, in a holster on the divers leg to be ready at all times in the event of an emergency. The pressure gauge 28 at the rear not only indicates to the diver if the tank pressure is sufficient to operate the weapon but it also shows the amount of air remaining for normal breathing purposes. Additionally, as discussed hereinabove, the weapon may be simply used as a source of pressurized air under water for floating objects to the surface.

While the present invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment thereof, it will be understood that those skilled in the art may make many changes and modifications without departing from the true spirit and scope of this invention. Wherefore, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications which come within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. An underwater weapon of the type including a hollow tip member connected to a piston which is forwardly driven from a retracted position in a cylinder by compressed gas to project the tip therefrom into a creature, said gas being injected into the creature through a passageway in said tip, the improvement comprising bypass means disposed in the forward portion of said cylinder for feeding compressed gas around said piston to the passageway in said hollow tip said by pass means operating only when said piston is in its most forward position.

2. An underwater weapon according to claim 1 comprising spring means connected between said piston and cylinder for returning said tip to a retracted position.

3. An underwater weapon according to claim 2, wherein said cylinder comprises a barrel in which said piston and spring are mounted,

the forward end of said tip being shrouded in the forward end of said barrel when said tip is in a fully retracted position.

4. An underwater weapon according to claim I wherein said bypass means includes a passageway in the wall of said cylinder.

S. An underwater weapon according to claim 4 wherein said passageway opens into said cylinder through longitudinally spaced apart openings in the wall thereof.

6. An underwater weapon according to claim 5 wherein said passageway in the wall of the cylinder comprises a sleeve mounted in the forward end of said cylinder.

a plurality of longitudinal flats on the external surface of a sleeve for providing said passageway between said sleeve and said cylinder, and

said passageway openings into said cylinder comprise radial holes in said sleeve.

7. An underwater weapon according to claim 1, comprising a guide bushing in which said tip is slidably mounted.

said tip member having a cross-section which is noncomplimentary to the guide passageway in said bushing thereby to permit water to flow in and out of the forward portion of said cylinder when said tip member is in a retracted position.

8. An underwater weapon according to claim 7 comprising sealing means carried by said tip member for sealing said piston to said bushing when said tip member is in a fully projected position. 

1. An underwater weapon of the type including a hollow tip member connected to a piston which is forwardly driven from a retracted position in a cylinder by compressed gas to project the tip therefrom into a creature, said gas being injected into the creature through a passageway in said tip, the improvement comprising bypass means disposed in the forward portion of said cylinder for feeding compressed gas around said piston to the passageway in said hollow tip said bypass means operating only when said piston is in its most forward position.
 2. An underwater weapon according to claim 1 comprisIng spring means connected between said piston and cylinder for returning said tip to a retracted position.
 3. An underwater weapon according to claim 2, wherein said cylinder comprises a barrel in which said piston and spring are mounted, the forward end of said tip being shrouded in the forward end of said barrel when said tip is in a fully retracted position.
 4. An underwater weapon according to claim 1 wherein said bypass means includes a passageway in the wall of said cylinder.
 5. An underwater weapon according to claim 4 wherein said passageway opens into said cylinder through longitudinally spaced apart openings in the wall thereof.
 6. An underwater weapon according to claim 5 wherein said passageway in the wall of the cylinder comprises a sleeve mounted in the forward end of said cylinder, a plurality of longitudinal flats on the external surface of a sleeve for providing said passageway between said sleeve and said cylinder, and said passageway openings into said cylinder comprise radial holes in said sleeve.
 7. An underwater weapon according to claim 1, comprising a guide bushing in which said tip is slidably mounted, said tip member having a cross-section which is non-complimentary to the guide passageway in said bushing thereby to permit water to flow in and out of the forward portion of said cylinder when said tip member is in a retracted position.
 8. An underwater weapon according to claim 7 comprising sealing means carried by said tip member for sealing said piston to said bushing when said tip member is in a fully projected position. 